It’s a worst-case scenario. You’re in a room with a security situation with three bad guys that you have to engage. You could very well be shot. If that happens, you have to keep going until you can no longer continue. So…target priority. Who is the biggest threat?
Situations like this are why we train. Today we’re taking a look at a handgun drill to help with speed so you’re better prepared to face something like this. For this drill, and in real life, we have to engage targets in their tactical priority. Ie., the most serious threat gets engaged first. That might be the closest threat, or possibly the nature of his armament (maybe he has a shotgun and the others have pistols). It’s called the 22422 drill, and Travis Haley walks us through it in this video:
For this drill, don’t just think about tactics, think about what’s going on in the body and mind. It’s a real advantage to have your fundamentals already ingrained in your training. With that in order, you can focus and concentrate on the processes to achieve the goals. Travis illustrates his point using the Haley’s Strategic Iceberg.
Running the 22422 Drill
The drill can be worked in any order or combination you can think of. Remember, you’re training to engage the most serious threat first. Possible sequences:
- Left to right.
- Right to left.
- Start in the middle.
- Right, left, middle.
- You get the picture.
Personally, I suggest just starting out as simply as possible, left to right. You can always get fancy later on as your abilities improve.
Also, this drill can be run very close, or farther away and the size of the target can be adjusted smaller or larger. Travis Haley recommends starting out slowly to warm up, and then speeding things up with a timer.
Twelve rounds are fired in this drill.
- First target, two rounds.
- Second target, two rounds.
- Third target, four rounds.
- Final two targets, two rounds each.
The goal is to run the entire drill in three seconds or less.
Key Points for Success with the 22422 Drill
Slow the hell down.
Self Control is the ability to control your emotions, behaviors, and desires in the face of external demands. This is one of the basics that needs to be ingrained in order to reach competency on a tactical level.
Relax.
Relaxing your muscles will help you go faster. Being tense means the body is fighting itself, which slows you down.
Biomechanical Efficiency.
This refers to how effectively you body operates with absolute minimal stress on specific joints. You don’t want wasted movements or for your joints to be fighting each other.
Travis Haley advises against using a “tank turn”, which is what happens when your hips stay pointed in one direction and your torso pivots. Instead, he suggests turning and shifting your entire body, including the hips. That way, your hips are pointed toward the target, your biomechanics are solid, and your body is not working against itself.
As you shoot the drill, you should begin developing a rhythm, which will assist you in going faster with the drill. Basically, the rhythm equates to moving your hips and torso in concert with your trigger finger, it’s a sort of connection.
Again, we are cautioned against going so quickly that we skip steps and get sloppy. During his first warmup drill, Haley’s time was 5.29 seconds. At another point, Haley goes too fast and gets hits outside the circles of his target. He pauses to point out that this is the time to assess and slow down. He emphasizes to not rush yourself so that you are using solid shooting techniques. Rushing makes us cut corners, and our technique suffers. Speed comes with practice and time. Overdriving yourself leads to misses and sloppy technique. It’s better to get those basics down solidly first.
*Note: It’s better to be slightly slower and accurate, it’s not about going out there and proving you’re the fastest. That old axiom of “You can’t miss fast enough” is proven here. Conversely, the axiom, “Slow is smooth, and smooth is fast” rings true!
Advanced Application
Once you get the drill down, you can go advanced. This includes:
- Step off the center line of attack.
- Step a foot in one direction and then engage targets. This is a good tactic, as it gets us off the center line of attack, which is always a good thing during an attack.
- Move off the “X”!
- Move in both directions as you engage targets, so you are not static. To economize time, Haley draws as he steps to the left simultaneously. He doesn’t move and then draw — it’s a way to make up time.
Naturally, this is likely to add a bit of time to your drill, and that’s to be expected, it’s okay.
